Kim Mi-hyun, On Her Way to First Win of the Season

‘It is now my turn.’

Kim Mi-hyun (age 26, KTF), nicknamed ‘Super Peanut’, made a smooth start at the Corning Classic on the US LPGA tour (total prize: 1 million dollars).

Aiming at her first win of the season, she scored a 5-under-par 67 with no bogies in the first round at Corning CC (par 72), Corning, New York. She co-ranked 5th with 3 hits behind the sole first place Karen Stupples (Britain). Therefore, it is possible that Korean female golfers, two-time winner Park Se-ri (CJ) and one-time winner Park Ji-eun (Nike Golf) as well as Kim Mi-hyun, grab first prize for the 4th time.

Though Kim Mi-hyun missed the green on 3 holes out of 18, she was able to finish 6 holes with 1 putt and not a single 3 putts thanks to daily 3 hour-long practice sessions last week.

Stupples, who was disqualified from last year’s Classic for being late on opening day, had the best 1st round score with 8 birdies and no bogies.

It was also a historic day for Annika Sorenstam (Swedish), who played in the 1st round of the PGA tour. She drew tremendous attention from the general public and a large screen was installed around the 18th hole to broadcast her play. Other female players also cheered her on while watching TV at the club house.

Shallot Sorenstam (Swedish), who was virtually bombarded by questions about her sister, scored 71 with 1 under par.

Two weeks ago, George Jones brought the first victory to the US in 9 months on the LPGA tour. She and Michelle Redmon (American) co-ranked 2nd with 6 under par. Park Se-ri, Park Ji-eun, and Han Hee-won (Fila Korea) did not participate.

Jong-Seok Kim kjs0123@donga.com